Band’s debut album Northern Powerhouse wins support from minister with same title

Published:12:41Friday 03 March 2017

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A government minister has given his support to an indie band which released a debut album sharing his title of “Northern Powerhouse”.

Sandra’s Wedding - made up of Castleford guitarist Jonny Hughes, drummer Luke Harrison of Knottingley, and singer Joe Hodgson and bassist Tom Hill, both from Goole - were praised by MP Andrew Percy after he downloaded the album last month.

Conservative MP Mr Percy said on his Facebook page: “Despite the fact I’m the MP for Goole and Northern Powerhouse Minister, so may be a little biased, it really is a good album.

“It contains some very witty lyrics and is a real must for any northerner.

“Might find a way to mention it in parliament if I can, although having a politician as a fan might be the last thing this band want. Politicians aren’t that cool...”

Mr Hughes said the group found out about the “bizarre twist”, a few weeks after releasing the album on Valentine’s Day.

He said: “It was written and recorded over the past year or so and reflects what it is like to grow up in a working class town in the north of England in an age of austerity, looking at themes of love, youth and unemployment.

“It’s something we are quite proud of, and could only really have been written by people growing up in this part of the country, in former mining and ship building towns respectively.

“We practice in and around Castleford and Pontefract, and you can feel how our background reflects our music.

“It would seem disingenuous to sing about sun and sea when you live in a small town in the North of England, so we try and write songs about things that people around these parts can relate to and identify with.”

Northern Powerhouse can be ordered in CD form from www.facebook.com/sandraswedding or downloaded from iTunes, Amazon Music, Spotify and Google play.